There couldn't be more disparate rivals at the Lok Sabha hustings this summer. A determined Prakash Ambedkar and a grim Sushilkumar Shinde will be fighting it out in Solapur reserved constituency of western Maharashtra, known for its Solapuri chaddars and frequent droughts.
Shinde is a local hero, whose rags to riches story is part of the state's folklore.
His journey from a ‘boy peon’ in the district court to becoming the first Dalit chief minister of the state and a Union home minister during the previous UPA regime has been recounted umpteenth times in the media.
Shinde, who was defeated in the Modi wave in 2014, was looking to make a comeback when Ambedkar made a surprise entry in the fray causing a bitter verbal flare-up.
Shinde accused the grandson of the architect of Indian Constitution of “trying to murder the Constitution,” and Ambedkar hit back saying his rival seemed to have forgotten it was the Congress which had tried to crush democracy and bring in dictatorship.
Shinde and Ambedkar could be termed the Siamese twins of Maharashtra politics, who, despite being joined by caste, have charted their own paths in politics leading to the present electoral clash.
Shinde was born ‘Dagdu’ in 1947 to a poverty stricken family belonging to the Dhor or tanner caste.
He had to drop out of school to become a child labourer in a factory unit for a monthly wage of Rs 10.
But he never lost hope and went on to become a ward boy at a maternity home and joined a night school to clear his matriculation exams before landing the job in the district court.
Shinde also worked as a police sub inspector for a few years until a meeting with Sharad Pawar triggered his entry into politics in the early seventies.
He had, by now, changed his first name, after his performance as the hero, Sushilkumar, in a drama that made him popular among his teachers and college mates.
In sharp contrast, his rival, born in 1954, inherited the Ambedkar legacy and went on to study law at Siddharth College in Mumbai.
Young Prakash maintained a steady distance from the aggressive and fragmented politics of the Dalit Panthers through the seventies and eighties until he emerged on the state’s political scenario with an unlikely win by his Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) in a by-poll for Nanded district’s Kinwat assembly seat in 1993.
The victory for BBM’s Bhimrao Keram, an unknown adivasi candidate, shocked everyone in Maharashtra politics, then dominated by Congress.
It set the stage for what came to be known as the “Kinwat pattern” of uniting the OBCs, SCs and STs to defeat the Congress.
Ambedkar had been working on this broad social coalition for years, but after Keram’s defeat in the subsequent polls held in 1995, he suffered a setback with several of his Dalit colleagues abandoning the BBM.
Ambedkar remained steadfast through the years, managing independently by holding on to his base in Vidharba, where he continued to win local body elections in Akola, Washim and Buldhana districts.
He was elected twice to the Lok Sabha from Akola in 1998 and 1999, in what came to be called the “Akola pattern,” but continued as the lone wolf of Maharashtra politics.
In this time, Shinde was making rapid strides in Congress, holding important state ministries including Finance. He acted as the campaign manager of Sonia Gandhi in Amethi during the 1999 LS elections and was made the chief minister of Maharashtra in 2003.
He went on to become Andhra Pradesh governor, power minister and home minister at the Centre.
During UPA rule, the ever-smiling Shinde was happy being the Congress’ Dalit face in Delhi, leaving local politics and election management to his staunch followers, who came to dominate the affairs at the Solapur Municipal Corporation.
Murmurs of dissent were first heard in 2004 when Shinde’s wife, Ujjwala, lost the Lok Sabha poll in Solapur.
Shinde managed to wrest back the parliamentary seat in 2009 and his daughter, Praniti, continues to retain her Solapur (central) assembly seat.
But ever since his loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to BJP lightweight Sharad Bansode by 1,49,381 votes, Shinde’s political stars have been on the wane.
To add to his troubles, Ambedkar has now landed to challenge Shinde on his home turf, even while filing nomination from Akola.
The two have been at loggerheads with Ambekar alleging Shinde had done precious little for the people of Solapur, failing to resolve the long-pending water scarcity in the region or revive the sick handloom and beedi industries.
Shinde has accused Ambedkar of joining hands with communal parties and working at their behest, while Praniti has been emphasising work done by her father – from laying a 100-km pipeline to supply water to Solapur city, to setting up NTPC and a power grid.
The CPM and the CITU have a strong base in the city and are credited with providing affordable housing to thousands of women beedi workers. They have come out in open support of Ambedkar. Adding fourth dimension to the fight is the BJP, which has replaced its sitting MP with spiritual leader Jai Siddheshwar Shiv Acharya, hoping to corner the sizeable votes of his Lingayat followers.
But it’s Ambedkar’s entry that has caused a major stir among all the other rivals. Many of his critics, including seculars and progressive, see his recent rise as an outcome of the attack on Dalits at Bhima Koregaon last year.
But he has been engaging with the masses all these years whether through BBM rallies or gatherings of the Buddhist Society of India (BSI) of which he’s the national advisor, his supporters counter.
Ambedkar has also been consistent with his social and political stand on various social issues, whether it’s organising “Samvidhan Bachao Rallies” or the protests over Rohith Vemula’s suicide or Bhima Koregaon attack.
Most importantly, unlike Ramdas Athavale and other Dalit leaders, he has refused to play second fiddle to the Congress-NCP or BJP-Sena at the cost of his community’s pride and interests.
Will Prakash Ambedkar spring a surprise in Maharashtra? That’s a question political pundits and news junkies have been wrestling with ever since he entered the parliamentary fray with his Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, representing the broader coalition of Dalit, adivasi and other neglected communities.
Will he win any seats or end up benefiting the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance while hitting the prospects of Congress-NCP?
Will his alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) evoke confidence among voters of Maharashtra?
Whatever, Prakash Ambedkar’s venturing out of his base in Akola is likely to give many politicians, especially Sushilkumar Shinde, sleepless nights
The heir to the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar is proving a worthy antagonist to the Congress’ Dalit hero.
